Updated 9:01 pm, Wednesday, October 19, 2011

Sheehan said money is included in the town budget from selling real property, and the consideration of selling the facility was unveiled only when a Republican Town Board member asked what property was being considered.

Mahan said the prior Republican administration -- in which Sheehan served -- also considered selling the center. The town is in talks to sell the property to the Industrial Development Authority for a business incubator, and part of the building would remain available for youth programs.

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The salvos are the latest exchanges in a heated race for town supervisor. Sheehan has assailed Mahan's handling of town finances, while the incumbent has accused Sheehan of deliberately misleading voters.

Sheehan said the center at 1653 Central Ave. once served as the village school, and it was sold by the South Colonie school district to the town for $1 with the idea of keeping it open to the community.

"More than 40 groups use this building for community-oriented activities," she said. "The administration's plans for this building are shrouded in secrecy."

The town budget includes $885,000 from the sale of real property, a figure Mahan says is conservative.

"We have been actively working with the IDA on an incubator there with the idea we'd still have the space where the Youth Bureau is," she said.

The town also has property off Wolf Road, behind the Newtonville Post Office and where the former highway garage was that is available for sale.

Town Republicans repeatedly included the sale of Heritage Park as revenue in their budgets, including while Sheehan was planning director, Mahan said. The sale did not occur until she became supervisor.

"She's been making a lot of accusations and putting out a lot of false information," Mahan said. "Every day it's something different."

Sheehan replied that the town only considered selling land behind the community center for bus parking, and Mahan included the sale of some of the same property in 2011's budget.

She called selling the Community Center to the IDA "a fiscal gimmick."

"It's essentially the town selling the building to itself," she said.

Sheehan also shared part of an independent audit the town received, which states the town's general, library, capital projects and environmental services funds had deficits as of Dec. 31, 2010. The report states the deficits were due to overspending and revenues being overstated. "The town is not in compliance with New York State Town Law," the report said.

"It reflects gross mismanagement on the part of Supervisor Mahan," he said. "Colonie taxpayers simply can't afford to be fooled again."

Mahan replied the recent decision to privatize the landfill's operation is enabling her to eliminate the town's $10.8 million deficit.

While Sheehan has been consistent in her criticisms of Mahan's handling of finances, she has remained vague about what she would do instead.

She said she would strengthen the tax base by redeveloping vacant parcels, reorganize departments eliminating several department heads and seek to explore ways to cut the town's energy bills through an energy audit.

"It's basically been organized the same way for 20 years with too many department heads," she said. "We need to reduce the size of town government."

Asked if that meant laying off town workers, Sheehan first said it could and then stressed she'd try to cut staff through attrition. Mahan has stressed that she has not laid off any workers but eliminated vacant posts.